The Legend Of Naruto Uzumaki
by MicHa3l.Ang3Lo
Summary: Naruto meets Kyuubi before he graduates and make him a good enough nija to be on par with Sasuke, gaining him the interest of a particular Tokubetsu Jonin, watch out Konoha as Naruto meets the cleverness of Anko  T first gradually becomes darker and bette
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my second attempt at a Naruto story!**

**In this one, meeting Kyuubi before the start of his third year at the Ninja Academy changed Naruto, only the people around him will be able to judge if meeting her was good or bad, and who's this Toku-Jo seemingly interested with our little hero?**

**Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 1: Beginning of a Legend**

"Man! I'm beat! It's been a long day of pranking and running", exclaimed the small boy, no older than ten.

This boy was special, he was a demon-container, keeping the most powerful of the Bijuu's caged, albeit without his knowledge, at the moment at least.

Unbeknownst to him though, the Kyū-bi, the Nine-tailed Demon fox, has been watching him, judging his actions, and is royally pissed.

XXX

After having a cup of Ramen for dinner, Naruto did his nightly rituals and went to bed, however as he felt the loving embrace of sleep, he opened his eyes to a dark sewer.

Standing, he felt around him, the place did not feel hostile, but that did not stop the feeling of dread as he walked through it, intent on finding out what was at the end of this tunnel.

Not long after, Naruto found himself in front of a great big cage, he couldn't stop himself as he exclaimed,

"WOAH! Where the hell am I?"

As soon as he spoke however a loud growl-y, feminine voice was heard behind the bars,

"**KUKUKUKU! So this, is my little kit, my oh so powerful container**" , then, great big red eyes formed behind the darkness,

"**Come closer kit, Don't worry, I won't bite...that hard, KUKUKUKUKU**_**", **_

As curiosity took over, Naruto obeyed the voice coming from the cage, as he did, torches around the room lit by themselves, and he found himself face to face with the demon, that he had only seen in picture books, the Kyū-bi no Kitsune.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!", Naruto screamed in fear,

"**Shhhh! Not too loud Kit!", **the Kyū-bi ordered, then continued, "**Hello, little Naruto**",

Naruto's eyes widened and asked, "W-who-How did you know my name?",

"**I am the all knowing Kyū-bi no Kitsune!", **She growled, "**Just kidding, I know because I have been with you, for over 8 years, little Kit", **

"What? NO!, the Yon-daime killed you!", he shouted in disbelief.

"**WRONG! None of you mortals can kill me!, I am the IMORTAL and ALL POWERFUL Kyū-bi!", ** She roared, "**He could not kill me!, so He did the next best thing! He and his wife sealed me", **she paused for a while and a smirk formed on her lips and continued softly, "**Into their Son".**

"What!, that's not true! If it were, then that would make me, the son of the Yon-daime of Konoha!", He shouted, not wanting to believe that his all time favourite hero, would do such a thing.

"**It is true Kit! I have nothing to gain in lying, Haven't you ever wondered, why those villagers glare at you all the time? Even those Shinobi, who are stupid and childish! Think my Kit! I am sealed inside you! You are the Yon-daime's child, The child of the man That is second on my list!", **Kyū-bi, said, in her growling tone.

Naruto was crying now, for now he understood the glares, the bullying, and the hurtful words, _Demon-brat!, Kyuubi's spawn!, _all these years, he thought it was just because of his pranks, but now the real cause was standing in front of him. His father was the reason for this, the man that was supposed to be his guide in life together, with his mother, put this burden upon him.

Gave him what no child should have the responsibility for, keeping the Kyū-bi behind bars.

"**Shhh! Little Naru, do not cry", **The Kyū-bi cooed, as the liquid substance around him rose around his body, in a warm comforting feel.

"W-why? W-hy! Why would they do that to me?", the little boy asked as he stared into the fox' eyes.

She couldn't stand those tearful eyes of his, closing her own, she replied in what truth she knew, "**To save the village little Naru", **she paused and continued, "**But Do not cry anymore child, your father may have been a great enemy, but I could stand you mother, she was my previous container, you know?**".

With that Naruto dried his tears, he stood up and walked nearer the cage, Kyū-bi tried to come close as her snout touched the bars of the cage then Naruto asked,

"Could you, please tell me about her?" and Kyū-bi did, she told the little boy tales of her and his mother's adventures, she explained that his mother was almost just like him right now, a trouble-maker, talkative and couldn't not end her sentences without a 'Dattebane'.

As their talk turned to Naruto's studies Kyū-bi scolded him,

"**Naru, you should try to do better at school, you want to be Hokage right?**",

At this Naruto nodded, and said,

"Yes ma'am, but I just don't want people to not notice me, I want them to see me, to recognize me as me",

"**That's not what you're doing Naru, sure you're showing them your trouble maker side, but that doesn't endear them to you, I'm not telling you to quit with the pranking, since, you and your mother got that from me, but please, try and concentrate in school, alright?**"

"Hai!", Naruto smiled and Kyū-bi, "I'll do my best, but er... Kyū-bi-sama, could you please teach me some things, that will help?",

"**Yes, and if you I don't see you trying, I will give you such a migraine, are we clear?**", Kyū-bi asked in her menancing voice.

"Hai!",

"**Good boy!**", as she had a chakra tendril pat Naruto on the head, "**now, it's time for you to rest, I'll wake you up tomorrow for school, goodnight kit**".

XXX

_Timeskip: 3 years later._

Today was the academy graduation day. They were going to find out which of them ranked above the rest, and who were to be their teammates.

In Iruka Umino's class room everyone was hyped, especially Haruno, Sakura and her 'rival for love 'Yamanaka, Ino', currently they were fighting on who gets to sit next to Uchiha Sasuke, the class genius,

"Ino-pig-chan! Move out of my way! I'm sitting beside Sasuke-kun!", Sakura shouted.

"In your dreams! And who are you calling 'pig', BILLBOARD BROW!", Ino shouted an octave louder,

Their bickering was the sight Naruto found as he entered the classroom, wearing his usual attire, after Kyū-bi-ka chan had him change from his orange jump suit, he was now wearing standard shinobi pants, sandals and mesh armor under a blue happi vest, with the sleeves ripped off, coz he felt like it, his Konoha insignia was tied at his waist crossing with his belt that had his pouch on it.

Walking past the bickering girls, he sat next to Sasuke, it was either beside the emo or beside Nara, Shikamaru, the laziest student in class, well Naruto didn't need to aggravate Iruka-sensei today, so he sat there.

A few minutes after sitting though he noticed that everyone was quiet and he had the feeling of people's eyes on him, so Naruto turned to his side to see the 'Sasuke-is-mine-duo' glaring at him.

"NARUTO!" Sakura started, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY SPOT?"

"Hn", was Naruto's only response, but Ino would never have him leave it at that,

"Grrr! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN NARUTO-BAKA?", Ino shouted, raising her voice to a much hgher notes than Sakura's.

'Man, everything is competition to these two, huh Ka-chan?", he thought.

"**Hn...Don't worry about them my little kit, they're strength is average, not a threat, but don't aggravate them though**", Kyū-bi answered through their link.

Returning to the physical world Naruto turned to Ino,

"Hn...don't push me Ino, you may be cute but I can still throw you out of the window, If I wanted", the blonde said and turned his attention back to the door, waiting for Iruka.

As soon as he does though, Sakura and her lengthy temper shot him a hateful glare as Ino pondered if she was going to thank Naruto for the compliment or just turn and sit with Shikamaru.

Sakura boiled as Naruto ignored her she send a chakra enhanced punch Naruto's way but it didn't connect as a hand now had a firm grip on her wrist.

"Ino, Sakura, you're getting annoying", Sasuke said, glaring at the two.

Today he thought he could tolerate them, since it would be the last day, but even Kami could not ignore them, so he had to take action.

Dejected, both fan-girls made their way to the always vacant seats, at the very top of the room.

"Arigatō, Sasuke", Naruto said, sparing his rival a glance,

"It wasn't for you, Jizen no saku, I was just getting annoyed", but nonetheless Sasuke smirked at his rival.

Naruto and Sasuke had always been rivals in class, ever since the start of third year, when the blonde seemed to have taken his studies seriously. Naruto was the only one that could beat Sasuke, in Tai-jutsu, with his so-called, Kitsune style, but mainly because of Naruto's amazing stamina. What made Naruto second to Sasuke however, Is that he could never beat the raven-haired kid in Gen-jutsu or in Nin-Jutsu.

Sasuke's signature jutsu, was the Uchiha clan's Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu, since Naruto's favourite jutsu, Futon: Pāmu senkai kiyanon only strengthened, Sasuke's jutsu. Not even Naruto's Suioton: Gurēto-sui bōru, could dampen Sasuke's fireball, because of the raven kid's mastery.

It wasn't all bad, though for when at rare time, during team-against-team training, and Sasuke was paired with Naruto, they could use this to their advantage creating a collaboration jutsu to incinerate the competition.

Yes, Naruto and Sasuke may be rivals, but they were friends as well. But rivalry came first to them of course.

A few minutes later, Umino Iruka entered his classroom; he was a Chūnin, who volunteered to teach, in the academy, so that he could be able to pass the will of fire to the younger generation.

He looked at his students before, beginning analyzing them each.

There was his top three students: Uchiha Sasuke, the loner/genius; Yamanaka Ino, his top and loudest kunoichi; and finally, Uzumaki Naruto, his favourite student as well as the scourge of his class and pants.

Next was the brainiest of them: Haruno Sakura, book smart but naive, and had fan-girlish tendencies; Nara Shikamaru, the local Lazy Genius; and Aburame Shino, he was a mystery, rarely speaks, but still had good marks.

Last of his most notable list were: Hyuuga Hinata, one of the shyest girls in the class, who even with Naruto's coaxing did not come out of her shell, yet; Inuzuka Kiba, the loudest male student, but still quite talented; and last was Akimichi Choji, their own fat-boy.

Iruka pulled himself out of his doldrums and spoke,

"Ohayō kurasu, today is the day you get your class rankings, and later on you team assignments",

"I know, wherever you are sent, you will do me proud...", Naruto zoned out as Iruka gave his speech but returned when it came to the class rankings.

"First I shall announce the over-all top seven genins, they are:

"In seventh place: Hyuuga Hinata, sixth we have: Aburame Shino, Fifth: Haruno Sakura, fourth: Shikamaru Nara."

Iruka paused for breath and continued,

"Our third place goes to our topmost Kunoichi, Yamanaka Ino", a round of applause came and Ino stood and did a curtsy as she reached the front of the class.

"Second place which was decided by five points, goes to Uzumaki Naruto, with Uchiha Sasuke, taking Rookie of the year, Conratulations, guys!", Loud claps was given to the top three especially to Sasuke.

As they all quieted down Iruka started with the team placements,

Naruto zoned out once again chatting with Kyubi, but was kicked out of his chakra coils as Team seven was called,

"Team seven will consist of, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura—" "YEAH! HAHAHAHA! BEAT THAT INO PIG!", Sakura exclaimed and pointed gloatingly to an obviously jealous Ino.

"Thank you Sakura for your most tasteful comment", Iruka said loudly after the interruption,

"Now the last member of team seven is, Sai, he is a student from another class, as his classmates were odd in number, he was drafted to ours", explained the scarred Chunin.

"Next up is team 8, members will be, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, congratulations", a warm round of applause was given to teams 7 and eight.

Iruka cleared his throat and said, "Since team 9 from last year is still active, team ten will be, Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino", another warm round of applause.

Iruka closed his folder that held the team placements. Naruto was now getting worried, but thankfully he did not need to ask for the ever inquisitive Sakura asked for him.

"Sensei, how come Naruto-baka doesn't get a team?", she piped up.

"I was getting to that, well Naruto, you were requested specifically by one of our Tokubetsu Jonins, as his/her apprentice, congratulations Naruto", Naruto only smiled as Sasuke looked a little jealous and Sakura, had her 'that belongs to Sasuke look'.

The blonde wasn't disappointed when Sakura and the fan-girl brigade all exclaimed in protest, Sakura's the loudest.

Iruka grew a recognizable tick mark on his forehead as the protests grew louder until finally he couldn't take it anymore and he yelled for silence, which was immediately complied.

As everyone started filling out the room, Sasuke went up to Naruto,

"Hey, Jizen-saku, come with me", Sasuke ordered.

Naruto frowned at this but still complied and followed Sasuke as he leapt to the roof-tops.

After a while, Sasuke threw him a package and said,

"I'm jealous of you, you know?"

"Yeah, of course, even Sakura, saw the look you gave me", Naruto replied as he was trying to find out what was in the box Sasuke passed him.

"Hn...Now I have idiotic teammates to deal with, I only hope they don't get in my way", Sasuke mused.

"Don't think that, you never know when you might need them, after all, you will need help when you take on your brother", Naruto said as he was still fumbling with the box.

Sasuke took it from him, opened it and drew a rice ball and passed him one, they then ate in silence.

"Thanks for lunch Sasuke", as Naruto moved to the ledge, back turned to Sasuke he said, "Against a stronger opponent teamwork may mean the difference between life and death, got it?".

"Yeah, thanks Naruto, where are you going then?", Sasuke queried.

"There's 30 minutes of lunch still, I intend to prank the masses", Naruto replied with a devlish smirk on his face.

XXX

Thirty minutes later, a number of shop keepers that cheated Naruto with their prices, had their shop name replaced with obscene and disgusting names, 'the Lub-Turd' was the most innocent of which.

XXX

As Sasuke was joining his classmates, he felt Naruto's chakra signature behind him, and said,

"Whatever you did, I'm not covering for you", and smirked.

"Hah, I didn't expect you to, could you hold this though?", said Naruto as he shoved a paint brush and can of orange paint to Sasuke's hands, and left him in the hallway.

"What the?", exclaimed Sasuke as he dropped the evidence, and ran back to the classroom, before anything was pinned on him.

XXX

In the classroom, the you ninjas to be were trying to get a feel on their teammates and trying to find a common interest, as was Sasuke, which left Naruto alone looking out the window as he waited for his sensei.

Just then the door opened, revealing a tall, scarred man, a bit different from Iruka though, his scars were much more pronounced, and it was like some drunken fool carved his face from wood.

The man cleared his throat before speaking, gaining the class' silence. Everyone, including, Naruto and Sasuke were visibly intimidated.

The man broke the silence and said, "I am, Ibiki Morino, head of the ANBU T&I division, which one of you is Uzumaki, Naruto?".

Naruto gulped as he gathered his courage and answered, "I am sir!",

"Come with me", Ibiki said simply, but Naruto was still shaking inside, it didn't help when he heard Sakura mutter before he left the room,

"He's a goner".

XXX

Naruto followed Ibiki across the vllage, until they come up to a large forest, completely sealed off with wire fences; it had a sinister look to it, like saying, once you enter you cannot come out.

Before Naruto could say anything Ibiki spoke up,

"You will wait here for Tokubetsu Jounin Mitarashi, are we clear, gennin Uzumaki?", he finished with a malevolent stare.

"H-h-hai sempai!", Naruto stammered, as he did he could have sworn he saw a smirk on the man's scarred face.

Naruto only had to wait for a few minutes before a seemingly annoyed young woman came to view, with a man, slightly older, chasing her, coming closer Naruto heard some of their almost concluded conversation.

"For the last time Hideyo I will not go out with you!", the young woman shouted.

"Come on Anko-chan, you know these games don't hinder me", 'Hideyo' insisted.

A tick mark appeared on Anko's forehead as she went through the hand signs, a smoke puff later, she was surrounded with snakes, of various shapes, and kinds.

"I know", Anko said as her face darkened, "I wonder, if these will",

Before she could order the snakes to chase after Hideyo, the man was already halfway back the way they came.

Naruto paled at the sight and prayed to kami that the lady was not the Toku-jo he was meeting.

Kami didn't hear him however as he saw her making for his position, resigning himself to his fate, Naruto sat and gathered his nerves.

As Anko stood before him, he wasn't that intimidated, she was only a little bit taller than his 4' 10" feet height and was really pretty. In fact if Naruto hadn't seen what she did earlier he would have made a pass at her.

She wore mesh armor under ninja tights around her chest area and tight shorts which reached an inch above her knees and a tranch coat which was buttoned up at the waist. Her konoha insignia was tied to her arm and she was holding a duelling kunai.

"Hey there Uzumaki, I'm Toku-jo Anko, pleased to meet yah!", she greeted and held a hand for Naruto to shake.

"Mitarashi-sempai I—", the blonde began but Anko stopped him,

"No, No Anko-san, sempai sama or whatever, alright? Call me Anko, just Anko. Got it, gaki?"

"Hai, Anko, gomen, I am Uzumaki Naruto, Iruka sensei said that you requested for me as an apprentice?", Naruto queried.

"Well, come walk with me, gaki", Naruto stood and walked with her closer to the Fenced forest.

"Here is what I'm gonna do, first, we're going to get to know each other, okay? Then we're going to find out what you're capable of, and third, for clarification, no, I am not going to apprentice you, to become my subordinate, I'm going to teach you to become my partner", she paused and let Naruto mull things over.

"Hai, Gotcha Anko", he said with a smile.

"Good now, come on, were going to walk around the village, tell me about yourself and I'll you some info about me, K?",

They walked around the village amidst the glares the villagers sent them, Anko for being Orochimaru's last living student, and Naruto for containing the Kyu-bi.

**Chapter break-**

**So? Whatcha guys think, huh?**

**Is it good enough? Or really bad? Tell me please, I crave for your reviews...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Beginning of Chaos_**

Naruto had a very interesting day, he met and made acquaintances with a Toku-jo, named Mitarashi Anko, he was now her apprentice, and after some time, a partner and teammate.

During tea and dinner, he found out a lot of things about his new sensei/partner.

First fact, she was 16 years old, graduated the academy at the young age of 9, got team placements and was a chunin at the age of 12, she didn't tell him who her sensei was though.

She was partial to Dango in fact one of her dreams was to have a dango recipe named after her, as much as he was partial to Ramen, she liked doing tea ceremonies, and before she took interest in his abilities, Anko liked working part-time with Ibiki, with his T & I division.

She loves her snakes, all except for the boss summon, Manda.

The best Anko fact he learned throughout the day though was that, she loved pranking people, and shared a few ideas which they could do after training and on their days off.

The only thought coursing through his head that night was that he couldn't wait for tomorrow.

Oh how he would regret that.

XXX

Naruto woke at six, which unnerved him since he was NEVER an early riser, he wondered why.

It was still three hours before he would meet Anko in Training ground 44, nonetheless he made breakfast, some eggs and cereal, since Kyubi only allowed him ramen during lunch, every other day.

After breakfast, Naruto showered and changed into his outfit, and did morning exercises; he started getting restless when he saw that after all of those activities it was only 7:15.

At this point he was asking (read: begging) Kyubi to let him go out for Ramen to pass the time.

After about 20 minutes of asking (really Naruto was begging) Kyubi gave her consent, leaving Naruto with enough time to get at least 3 bowls of Ramen.

XXX

"Ohayo! Teuchi Ji-san!", Naruto greeted loudly.

"Ohayo Naruto-kun bit early dontcha think?", Teuchi Ichiraku asked the blonde Ramen dispenser.

"Yeah, but I couldn't sleep anymore, so here I am, 1 miso Ramen and pork slices please!", Naruto asked, excitement rolling on the floor with his drool of anticipation.

"Sure thing Naruto", said Teuchi as he went to prepare Naruto's orders.

'**Naruto, you can only have 3 bowls, alright?**', Kyu-bi reminded him as he was waiting for his first bowl.

'Hai Ka-chan', agreed Naruto dejectedly.

'**Good Boy**', Kyu-bi replied, but was left talking to none as Naruto's Ramen arrived.

As per usual Naruto breezed through the 3 bowls, even with Ayame Ichiraku warning him to slow down.

"Naruto, I could never get how you can inhale Ramen, I know it's good, but—", asked Ayame, but then someone cut her off.

"Hey, Naruto, I figured I'd see you here", Iruka said as he entered the ramen bar.

"Hey! Iruka-sensei! How are you feeling?", Naruto asked, seeing his former sensei limping a bit.

"I've had better days", Iruk winced.

"What exactly happened sensei? You look like you had you fought someone strong", Naruto asked.

"Well...No, the guy wasn't that strong, but he was a former comrade, It was hard, to take down someone you knew closely you know?", Iruka explained.

"Who was it sensei? Mizuki-sensei? Bariko-sensei?", Naruto asked, curios.

"How did you know it was Mizuki?", Iruka asked, surprised for he did not see Naruto getting that intuitive.

"Well, one time, I think he was trying to let me overhear him joking about stealing the Shodai's scroll, the one that was listed as kin-jutsus", Naruto explained.

"Ah...well it's good that you didn't try Naruto", Iruka said relieved.

"Didn't need to you know?", Naruto replied sweetly without missing a beat.

"W-what?", Iruka stammered.

"All I needed to do was distract Hokage-jiji with Naruko, and well the rest is history", Naruto replied, with a devlish smirk on his face, reminiscing about that particular event.

"Hehehehe...as long as you weren't arrested Naruto, and well, that was not an easy feat, you know?", Iruka said, laughing at the fact that Naruto distracted the Hokage with a gennin jutsu.

Taking glance at the clock Naruto stood up and said, "Gomen, Iruka-sensei, but I have to meet Anko in a few minutes, she promised to clean her hands of what would happen if I was late, I promise to tell you the story some other time", Naruto ended with a smile, giving Ayame a note, he laughed and left.

"Iruka-san, Naruto said to give this to you when he left", Ayame said as she passed the note to Iruka.

'Iruka-sensei, thanks for paying for my ramen'

-Naruto/Naruko'

Iruka face palmed as he finished the note.

"Naruto-"

XXX

Naruto arrived just about a minute before nine a.m. therefore securing his safety.

As soon as he arrived though he found Anko sitting on the roof of the registration booth for the training ground, she was reading a scroll from the looks of her.

Remembering women's behaviour when disturbed and not wanting to get hurt so early in the morning he leaned on the booth and waited for Anko to notice him.

Not long after though Naruto got bored and decided to make his presence known, and sat beside Anko.

Not turning from her scroll, Anko said,

"Your late, gaki"

"I wasn't Anko, I was waiting by the booth, I didn't want to disturb you", Naruto explained.

"Hmm...", Anko turned to face him, giving him a scrutinizing look, as if trying to tell if he was lying.

"Honest!", added a worried Naruto.

"I believed you the first time, gaki", Anko smiled at him and beckoned him to follow as she jumped to the 44th training grounds.

After a while they came into a clearing, and Anko beckoned him to come forward.

As he took a step to Anko the ground beneath him crumbled, before he could fall though, he leapt out of the way, sadly, as he landed, the ground again failed him, but this time he couldn't react on time and fell in the trap.

As Naruto recovered his bearings, he looked up to see a chuckling Anko.

"You set this up, didn't you, Anko?", Naruto asked as he tried to get himself out of the hole.

"Yep", She said, forcing herself to be serious, "Naruto, It's great that you trust me, but as a ninja, you have to keep some doubts alive about everybody, because, whether we want to or not, there are always people wanting to get us, you and me especially, withing or without these walls, got it?",

Anko reached a hand to Naruto,

"Hai", the blonde replied as he took Anko's hand.

"Second lesson is, trust your comrades, completely when the situation arises, Konha nins value and have the best teamwork in the elemental nations, because, when it comes to fighting, we fight alongside, not nins from the same village, but fight like family, and we never let family down, right?",

Anko said as he pulled Naruto out of her trap.

"Hai Anko, I get it, trust when you must and keep caution when needed", Naruto summarized the lesson.

"Good, now let's find a nice, clearing and start your training shall we?", Anko said and walked alongside Naruto.

XXX

"Doton: Idaina chikyū no kabe", Anko shouted as she blocked Naruto's 'Futon: Pāmu senkai kiyanon'

As she dispelled the wall, she looked around to find Naruto missing, she turned right, left, back, beneath, no Naruto, that left up, as she looked, she saw the blonde doing hand seals.

In a blink of an eye she was soaked as she got hit by Naruto's Suiton: Gurēto-sui bōru.

"Alright that's enough!", shouted Anko.

"So Anko, what's next", asked Naruto sweetly.

"This", Anko whispered to his ear as she suddenly appeared behind him, a second later he was wrapped in snakes.

"You've still got a long way to go gaki", Anko smile at his bound form.

"Heh, yeah, I know, that's why I got you right?", he asked.

"Yup, now that I know what jutsus you can perform, let's move to Tai-jutsu", Anko suggested as she posed the primary stance for her hebi-style.

"Sure thing Anko", Naruto said as he moved for his Kitsune style.

As it turned out, Kitsune-style was the perfect match with Hebi-style, every time Anko moved to offence, Naruto could predict her moves, and their styles had distinct similarities and very specific differences.

After a few minutes of subsequent draws, Anko called for a break, since it was high noon.

"Good one Naruto, say, If you'd like I can teach you my Hebi-style", she suggested.

"I can feel an 'If' here somewhere sempai", Naruto added.

"Hehehe...funny gaki...right If you teach me your Kitsune-style, I think it can be helpful for any team combos we can find, what do you think?", Anko asked him.

"Sure thing, we'll be kicking ass soon, right?", Naruto exclaimed.

"Well, I don't take you for D-rank missions, am I right?", Anko hoped, he wasn't for she hated those poor excuses for missions.

"Yuck! Those are boring! I want to go straight to C-ranks up to B-ranks!", Naruto shouted, he knew what thos D-ranks entitled, having done a few for extra cash in the past.

Confident as he was, he knew he needed more training to go on A-rank missions, even with Anko's supervision.

"I thought so, that a given, we're going to spend a whole month and a half perfecting our teamwork, survival skills, combos, collaboration jutsus the works, we get a mission when we get that down, you hear me, gaki?", Anko stated.

"Hai! Got it Anko", Naruto answered energetically.

"Now come on!" She called as she started walking.

"Wait! Where are we going?", Naruto asked catching up with her.

"Well it's lunch time. So I'll let you treat me to dango", She explained nonchalantly.

"Eh?", Naruto face-palmed

"Any problem?" she asked with a devlish smirk on her face.

"None at all ma'am!", Naruto replied quickly, before anything untoward happened to him.

"I thought so".

XXX

Before Naruto could make his way to Ichiraku's Ramen stand, Anko dragged him to her favourite Dango shop.

"It's lunch! We can't have Dango for lunch!", exasperated Naruto in outrage as Anko pushed him to a booth.

"I know, I'm having one for an appetizer, then we'll go for bar-b-cue, got it?", Anko asked.

"Hai!", Naruto cowered against Anko's glare.

Naruto and Anko left the Dango shop a few minutes later and headed to a nearby bar-b-cue stand.

"Hey Naruto, drink this", said Anko as she passed him a white bottle.

"Eh?, What is this?", asked Naruto sniffing the bottle to make sure it wasn't something nasty.

"haha...don't get to paranoid, I told you to trust me right?", Anko stated.

"Alright, I trust you, Anko", and Naruto drank, the purple colored liquid then passed it back to Anko, who took a swig as well.

Lunch was a bit quiet as Anko ate quickly, made Naruto pay and they left quickly.

Naruto didn't notice the Chef's smirk as they left.

As soon as they left the bar-b-cue stand Anko turned to Naruto,

"You feeling O.K, Naruto?", she asked.

"Yeah, why?", Naruto asked tentatively.

"Our food was laced with a simple poison, sorry Naruto",

Naruto's face fell as he heard this.

"Why are you apologizing Anko? I should be the one apologizing, They probably did that because of me, gomen-nesai sensei", Naruto said.

"Nah, It isn't your fault they were ugly and stupid, kohai", Anko smiled, trying to lift Naruto's spirits.

"Hehe...yeah, you're right, should we report this, taichou?" Naruto asked, remembering a clause in the Ninja rules about those kinds of incidents.

"No, I don't want to bother jiji...er...Hokage-sama, and besides, I don't want to give them the pleasure", shooting a glare at the stand.

"Let's just forget it taichou, let's go have Dango", suggested Naruto.

"Hmm...good call gaki, let's go, you'll need the energy for later".

XXX

Naruto decided that he was lucky to get a superior who understood his life, and was like him, he hated the fact that every idiot villager hated them, most especially her. She who was really fun, talented, young, she was a real extraordinary ninja.

Anko, felt sorry for Naruto, he didn't deserve their treatment, he was a sweet kid, liked playing, running around, a real stamina freak. Because of those villagers, he keeps to himself, mostly anyway. He wasn't shy at any rate, and the kid knew when to say what he thinks of people and when to shut up.

Anko was thinking on a way to be able to spite those villagers, other than the occasional prank.

She couldn't come up with anything yet, but oh she will, just you wait you idiots, we'll get you, one way or another, me and him will be pissing down on your decapitated necks and-woah there girl, too gory, gotta stop while you ahead.

The 16-year old toku-jo shook her head, and turned to her soon to be ninja-partner.

"Yo, Naruto, we're going to rest up before anything else, can't have you getting appendicitis on me now, can we?", she said with a wink.

"hehe...yeah, so what are we going to do, Anko?", He asked.

"I don't know yet, let's just take a walk, eh?", the Toku-jo suggested.

"Sure, why not".

XXX

"Hey gaki", let's head over to training ground 13, alright?", Anko asked.

"Sure thing, why do you have a date there?", Naruto teased.

"No I don't!",

"Hahaha...I was just pulling your leg taichou", he saved before Anko hit him.

"If you must know we're just going to a friend's favourite training ground, I'll even introduce you",

"Oh sure, I don't see why not"

When they arrived, they saw they were training.

Naruto recognized, Kiba and Hinata sparring, dog-boy was taking it easy on Hinata, probably to help her, but in Naruto's opinion he's only dragging her down, when he's underestimating her. Shino was looking at some maps, but was surrounded with bugs; he looked up as did their sensei as he and Anko arrived.

"Hey Kurenai-chan!", Anko greeted team 8's sensei.

"Hi, Anko-chan", she smiled, "Team 8 this is a friend of mine, Mitarashi, Anko, Tokubetsu Jonin.", she introduced.

"Hey!", Kiba greeted.

"O-Ohay-o A-anko san, Na-naruto-kun", Hinata stuttered.

Shino just nodded.

"Hey guys!", Naruto said, happy at seeing his friends.

"Kurenai-chan, this is Naruto, he's my apprentice of sorts", Anko said as Naruto bowed lightly.

"Ohayo Naruto-san, I hope Anko-chan is a good teacher", Kurenai smiled at him.

Her smile was nice, warm and comforting, just like Kyu-bi's when she wasn't in the mood to smother him.

"She's well, we haven't gone on learning stuff yet, just practicing our teamwork", the blonde answered.

"Yeah, I'll give him some training later", Anko said as she winked at Kurenai.

The woman must have gotten Anko's meaning as she said before turning to her students,

"Goodluck Naruto-san",

"Right, anyway we just stopped to say hi, Kurenai, team 8 we have to go", Anko said as she walked back.

"See you guys", Naruto waved and followed Anko.

XXX

A few minutes later Naruto and Anko were back inside the "forest of death", to begin their training.

"So eh..what now, sensei?", the blonde asked looking at Anko.

"Now, I'm going to give you, to the count of three to get ready, before we start our dodge training", Anko stated with an evil glint in her eye.

"One", she counted and threw a kunai by her feet.

"Two", throwing a kunai between her and Naruto.

"Three". A kunai swept past Naruto's cheek, stinging him, then he got the idea of Anko's training, she practiced throwing, while he was the target.

*gulp*, as he ran dodging Anko's hail of kunai.

"This is the beginning of chaos gaki, and boy will you be thankful after it", she called, just behind him, throwing kunais, shurikens, senbons, sinks at Naruto.

"Where the hell did you get a sink?", asked an outraged Naruto as he ran for his life.

Beginning of chaos indeed.

**Chapter break!**

**Kyaa!**

**So, am I getting better? Or just worse?**

**Please leave a review...thanks...and if you need to, ask your questions, as long as they won't spoil the story I'll respond...**

**Ja'ne!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: Training month**

"C'mon Naruto! Show me I was right in taking you in!", Anko shouted, their throwing and dodging exercise was already two hours over. She was now trying to teach him to turn the tables against a stronger opponent.

"Use your jutsus!, turn this fight to your favour!", She insisted.

'Ka-chan, how the hell do I do that?', He asked.

'**Let me think for awhile kit, in the meantime, try not to get hit**', Kyu-bi replied.

"Uhh...", Looking around his surroundings, he tried to envision a plan to get behind Anko, and try to lose her.

Trying to put chakra on his hands and feet, he climbed a tree, halfway up the first branch though, a kunai found itself stuck between his index finger and middle finger.

"You can't escape me, gaki", said Anko suddenly, up the branch he was trying to get to.

Naruto dropped out of the tree, and hurled a kunai up at Anko, he didn't wait to see what happened as he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

Anko smirked as she watched him run, she held the kunai he threw, thinking of plans against him.

None could beat Anko in these woods, she knew it like the back of her hand, she was one with this forest, comforting her, this was her domain, now it's time to call in her 'family'.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!", she shouted, making sure Naruto heard her.

'Shit!', he cursed mentally.

'**Language kit!**' forgetting for awhile that his 'mother' can hear some of the things he thought.

'Gomen ka-chan', he apologized mentally as he was trying to climb a tree, which was slippery as hell.

Sitting on one of the lower branches, Naruto was trying to come up with a plan, whilst he was thinking, he didn't notice a small snake , until he heard the snake say,

"Anko nee-chan!, I found him", and the snake disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Bolting straight up, Naruto jumped from tree to tree, until he came up on a new clearing with a small stream and a little waterfall,

'**This would be a great place to set up a trap kit**'

Thinking quickly he tried to set up a trap whit a couple of trip wires and some elementary earth jutsus.

He hid behind a small space behind the waterfall and waited for Anko.

She came up from the east, leaping up, she landed above a small boulder. She looked around for signs of him and to Naruto's surprise she leapt and landed right in the middle of his trap.

Anko had her feet stuck to the ground he softened enough to creat a quicksand-like mixture.

He couldn't believe his luck he got her. He released a deep breath and light chuckle which ended in a laugh, until he heard a second voice laughing with him, turning he came face to face with Anko, holding a kunai and some rope, with a smirk on her face that would scare even Orochimaru.

XXX

Minutes later, Naruto was bound, lying face first to the ground, with Anko sitting on him.

"That was good, gaki, if I didn't know this place like the back of my hand, you could have done something against me, well at least now I know what to train you first", she stood him upright and cut off the ropes.

"Heh, I saw back at nin-jutsu practice you favoured air and water release, well, I only have a few of those, my elements are earth and fire, so sorry about that, we'll have to find you some jutsu in the libraries I suppose", she thought.

"That's alright sensei, maybe in the meantime we can teach each other our tai-jutsu styles.", Naruto suggested, his body aching all over.

"Sure, why don't we meet up by the registration booth, again tomorrow at nine a.m., that good?", she asked.

"Sure thing sensei, I'll do my best, tomorrow", Naruto nodded and started walking to the gates.

"Wait a minute gaki!, you don't even know the way out of here!" she called as she raced after him.

A few minutes later they got out and Anko passed a scroll to Naruto.

"Here, study this, that's a map of the forest, I want you to know it by heart by the end of the week, you hear me?", Anko asked.

"Hai!", Naruto saluted.

"Now c'mon, I'll get you some ramen, for a job well done today", she smiled, a nice warm smile.

"Yatta!", the blonde exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air.

He found out something new about Anko, if you're friendly, she could be like an angel, full of fun and ideas, and if you're her enemy, you have better be ready for a big hurting, coz she won't be pulling any stops until you're bound and gagged or dead.

XXX

It was 2 in the afternoon, Anko just got the basics of kitsune-style and Naruto was trying to grip the basics of hebi-style.

Anko making comments as he changed each stance, she would chastise him every mistake and provide tips and when he gets it right she gives him praises. Her method made it easier for him to learn.

"Alright let's move to ninjutsu, alright?", Anko asked as Naruto finally got the basics.

"Sure, sensei!", Naruto saluted.

"Alright, for our first jutsu, we have Doton: Chikyū kurōn, these type of clones are sturdier than, the regular bunshin, the water clone and the shadow clone, the drawback is that they have less chakra, can't do B-rank up jutsus and can't transmit their knowledge to the original", Anko explained.

"Hai!", Naruto responded as Anko showed him the proper hand seals.

A few minutes later...

Naruto knew he wouldn't get it the frst time, even the second, or the third, or even that fourteenth time, but wasn't his 15th time enough?

Remembering what he learned about the shadow clone jutsu, he summoned 10 clones and without instruction, tried performing the jutsu.

They all dispersed and tried another time, this time, a double rose up the ground giving him a thumbs up, saying,

"Great job boss!", it was all good until a few second later he turned back into the earth.

"Damn! I almost had it!", Naruto shouted in frustration.

He wasn't deterred however as he just returned to practicing, calling twenty clones this time he tried suppressing his chakra.

Anko, who was trying to come up with combos with the kitsune and hebi style, saw Naruto's moment of success, she smiled and tried to give him some encouragement.

"Hey gaki!", she called.

"Hai sensei?" the original blonde answered.

"You keep this up and I'll give you something great, you hear me?", she asked.

"Yatta! Sure thing sensei!", he hollered.

"Master that jutsu, with these,", she threw him a couple of jutsu scrolls, "and I'll give you that surprise, O.K?".

"Hai! Sensei! Before this day is up I'll have those jutsus mastered!", said a fully motivated Naruto.

Anko just smirked as the kid returned to his practicing; even summoning twenty more clones and have them read the new scrolls.

Taking out a notebook and pencil, she wrote down a combo she'd been thinking of.

**4:30 P.M.**

Naruto was panting, as his clones just dispersed leaving him with 40 peoples worth of exhaustion and his own, but it was all worth it as he had mastered the jutsus,

"Doton: Chikyū kurōn"(Earth release: Earth clone), he stated proudly as he summoned an earth clone, which stayed.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!"(Fire release: grand fireball), he sent a medium sized fireball at the earth clone, who burned to dust.

"Doton: Do kabe!" (Earth release: Earth wall), an Earth wall just his height rose from the ground.

Anko was smiling behind him, proud that he made well his promise of completing the jutsus before the sun set.

"Congrats gaki!", she shouted.

"Arigatou, sensei", he bowed.

"Looks like you could use a break,", she teased at the obvious, "and a bath", she added, for Naruto smelled like sweat and earth.

"C'mon gaki, as part of your reward, I'll treat you to the hot springs", she beckoned and he came.

They walked in silence, Naruto was exhausted and Anko was deep in thought on the possible feats Naruto could accomplish.

When they arrived, Anko found out that it was Naruto's first time to take a hot spring bath and did not know what to do. As Anko didn't have the heart to leave him to fend for himself she debated whether to just leave the place or henge and teach Naruto.

Thankfully she was saved from the decision as she saw Asuma Sarutobi enter with his gennin team. Luck continued to pour as Asuma agreed to help Naruto if she could put in a good word of him with Kurenai. She agreed of course and was accompanied by a young Yamanaka as they relaxed in the women's part of the bath house.

XXX

Naruto slept well that night, the hot springs was great he met someone new and nice, his mother was proud of him, Anko treated him to Ichiraku's and tomorrow she promised him new jutsus and something special.

XXX

"What's this sensei?", Naruto asked as Anko laid a bigger than normal scroll in front of him.

"This is a contract scroll", she started, "Now, I am inviting you to sign it, but think about it first alright? This is a big decision, once you sign this, you can't sign any other contracts for other animals, you got me?", she asked.

"Hai sensei!"

'Ka-chan, what do you think?", Naruto mentally asked.

'**I don't know much about these snakes except that they match our style perfectly, they could be of some use, and I remember that they were the summons of the once great Orochimaru, once the strongest of the Densetsu no Sannin**', She replied.

'Yeah I remember that, he once beat the Toad sage and the Senju princess, right?'

'**Yes, a one-on-one all out battle with the Hermit and then a day later another battle with the Slug. Hmmm...come to think of it I remember the Yondaime on top of a great red frog when he fought me...I should have eaten that damned frog**', the fox added, still sore after 13 years from her defeat.

'So, you think I should sign this, Ka-chan?'

'**It's your call, little Naru, They all seem to be powerful companions in battle, and as I said they complement our style nicely.**'

"What do I need to do sensei?"

Anko smirked as she showed Naruto the seals.

"There, have you memorized them?", She asked.

"Hai!", Naruto replied performing the hand seals one more time.

"Good, now I need you to sign your name here, with your blood", She stated, indicating the blank.

"Oh, all right.",

Taking out a kunai, Naruto pierced his right forefinger just enough to get a regular blood flow and signed the contract.

"Alright! Welcome to our little club of snake summoners!", Anko shouted childishly, even giving Naruto a thumbs up.

"Heheh..Arigatou, Anko", Naruto bowed.

"Now, try and summon a snake", Anko ordered.

"Hai!".

Naruto performed the hand seals and slammed his hand into the ground, as he did he was engulfed in smoke. As it dissipated Naruto saw what he summoned, It was white snake skin.

"What the hell?", Naruto

'White Snake skin...'

"I summon a refuse?", Naruto asked in outrage.

"Hey! Careful with that, don't you know the legend of White snake skin?",Anko asked, her head still back at the time, her former sensei taught her about it.

"Eh? What legend?", Naruto asked suddenly curious both at Anko's sudden change and the legend.

"Some say, white snakes, bring bad luck, but I don't believe that, my former sensei, taught me that white snakes are the secret to immortality, he said, only those people who are afraid of power or those who are weak cannot understand this, I could teach you some of it if your interested", she recited.

'Wait, I sounded too much like that bastard just now, this has got to stop', she suddenly thought regaining her bearings.

"Sure Anko, I'd love to learn about them", Naruto answered enthusiastically.

'Hmph', she smiled outwardly, 'He's just like me back then'.

'Do you know the difference between you and me sensei? I won't betray him, like you did to us back then', she mentally said, as if her old sensei could hear her.

"Well, I'll look up my old notes about it, alright? Now I'll tell you why you couldn't summon, although you have more than enough chakra you can't control it properly, got it?", She asked.

Naruto nodded that he understood.

"Alright, now, we use lots of techniques for chakra control, one of the most basic is the tree climbing excercise", Anko said as she showed Naruto.

"Wow!Alright, lemme try", Shouted an enthusiastic Naruto.

Gathering chakra to his feet, he proceeded to placing his foot on the trunk, only to fall down after placing both feet on the tree.

"Hahahaha!", laughed Anko as she watched Naruto fall, she did kind of expected it.

"Hey! It's not funny!", an embarrassed Naruto shouted.

"It is for me!" Anko replied as she tried to compose herself.

Naruto stood up and glared at the tree that caused him to fall.

'**Kit, don't worry about it, with this exercise I can help your chakra limitation, so that your body can adjust with it's flow, and in time your body will memorize the needed chakra and you won't need to consciously control the chakra**', Kyu-bi said, as she started using her tails to limit the chakra going to the blonde's feet.

'Arigatou, Ka-chan', Naruto mentally said, as he tried once more.

Naruto placed both feet on the tree, when he found that he didn't fall, he proceeded to walk up the tree with his eyes closed. After a while he stopped when he heard Anko clapping.

"Congrats, gaki!", Anko shouted, enthusiastic that the blonde got it so quickly.

Naruto saw that he was a quarter of the way up the gigantic tree. He smiled and thanked Kyu-bi and leapt off the tree.

As it was already 6 in the evening Anko told Naruto to meet her in front of the Hokage tower at 9 in the morning.

When Naruto asked her what it was for Anko just said that it was for a different training.

XXX

The next day, Anko led Naruto to one of the 'fancy' restaurants in Konoha.

"What are we doing here sensei?", Naruto asked.

"Today, I'm going to teach you about proper manners", Anko said as they were led to a private table.

"What? Why?", Naruto asked, thinking that this would be boring and unnecessary.

"Well for starters, you have none", Naruto face faulted at this but Anko continued, "second is that we might need to pose this way in missions, sometimes we will need to act like royalty or at least like, rich people, they have different traditions and mannerisms, the mission will fail if we slip up, got it?",

Naruto just nodded begrudgingly at the logic.

XXX

Naruto was very tired that night, Anko was a strict teacher with manners, every little slip up she would flick his forehead, especially when they got to tea ceremonies.

His forehead, shins and legs were sore, from kneeling or as Anko drilled in him, "Seiza", it was the proper sitting position, so she says.

Problem was, Anko said they would do this routinely now, After Tai-jutsu, Nin-jutsu and basic survival Training.

Anko wasn't good with genjutsu either, that was what made her a toku-jo instead of a full Jo-nin.

XXX

**Time skip: 1 month later**

Naruto leapt up in the air and threw three kunai at Anko's direction, not expecting them to hit, he back flipped and faced at Anko's direction, only to find her gone.

'Up?' Naruto looked up, 'not there, left?".

'Not there either, right? Nope, behind? No, that leaves'.

Naruto leapt again and formed the Hand Seals "Koraborēshon: Doro-chi"(Collaboration: Mud pool), as his palms touched the earth, the area in front of him turned to mud, as it did, a rotting log stuck out.

' Not bad', Anko thought as she emerged behind him, after doing a quick substitution before his jutsu hit the ground.

"Kakushi hebi-shu" (Hidden snake hands), She shouted as snakes emerged from her sleeves and sent flying to Naruto.

Naruto body-flickered behind Anko, performed handseals and shouted "Suiton: Suibaku-dan"(Water release: water bomb), and sent a ball of water at Anko.

"Doton: Do Kabe"(Earth release: Earth Wall), Anko said as a earth wall rose in front of her.

She slipped underground and disappeared from view.

Before Naruto could react, he was pulled into the ground, when he opened his eyes; Anko was in front of him holding a kunai to his forehead.

"Not bad Naruto, definitely Chunnin material", Anko smiled and helped him up.

"Heh, I'm inching closer to your level, Anko", Naruto said, as he rubbed his nose.

"Yeah, you are", she gave him a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

Naruto was now only an inch shorter than her, as quick, more durable. But skill wise, she was still better in leaps.

"C'mon, Naruto jiji asked for us", Anko said.

"Alright! Finally a mission", Naruto shouted.

"Yeah, watch out world Naruto and Anko are here!", She shouted proudly.

They both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

**Chapter break!**

**Yo! What's up? Here's the next chapter, tell me what you think, K? **

**Thanks for your reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: First Mission **

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha was a shrewd man, during the second and third shinobi wars; he led his home to victory through subterfuge and his sheer intelligence and strength.

That was then, as they say people change, if you were the few survivors that knew him then you would have said so as well.

People(*cough* Danzo *cough*) called him senile behind his back, they say age has made him soft, his old teammates were now nagging him to call in a successor, but he couldn't, Naruto Uzumaki was just not ready yet.

Besides with his 68 years he could still do this for at least 5 more years, by then he hopes that Jiraiya or Tsunade would be there to succeed him if Naruto was not ready yet.

Speaking of Naruto, I wonder where he and Anko are now; they were supposed to be here 15 minutes ago.

As soon as he finished the thought, the said duo burst in the room.

"Hey Jiji! What did you want us for?", Naruto asked.

"Naruto-kun, Anko-chan, you're late", Sarutobi mused.

Naruto didn't reply but sheepishly rubbed his head, unbeknownst to Anko the blonde was actually pointing at her.

The old Hokage smiled but did not comment; he picked up a scroll from under his desk and turned back to the duo.

"Well, I trust you two had a good month's training, so as per our agreement, in which you stated that you two could complete any missions I give you, from C-ranks to A-ranks with back-ups, I agreed, so for your first team mission, you will perform an inspection of our Kiri border, Misutī-machi(Misty town) has reported small bandit activity within the area", the Sandaime paused for breath and continued,

"Your mission is to eliminate any threats that is nearby, but be careful where you engage them, Kirigakure is very sensitive in dealing with foreigners right now, with the civil war just ending a few months ago".

"Hai Hokage-sama! For the village and the Will of Fire!", they chorused.

The old Hokage smiled, and before Naruto closed the door the Sandaime said,

"Remember, even if the town generates much income for the village do not cross the border, for any reason, the last thing we want is trouble with Kiri".

Naruto nodded and closed the door.

As the duo excited the Hokage Tower, Anko led them to the shinobi library.

"What are we doing here, Anko?", Naruto asked.

"I want to look at the map archives before we leave, wanna help?", she asked.

Knowing that Anko would've made him help either way he nodded.

"Good boy", Anko said as she patted him on the head.

Pouting, Naruto just went on to study the scrolls.

Anko must have had studied the maps earlier for a few minutes later she stood up and told Naruto to pack his things for the mission.

They agreed to meet at the village gates in an hour; they then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto, had already packed days ago, he was now annoying Kyu-bi to let him have some ramen and the fox was getting ready to relent.

XXX

Naruto and Anko met an hour later at the gigantic gates of Konohagakure.

"Anko", Naruto saluted his superior.

Anko just nodded, she was nervous for Naruto, the kid, as powerful as he was now, was still naive, he was too trusting, it will become his downfall, she thought, but not while i'm alive.

As they were walking Anko took out a list and asked,

"Did you remember to pack everything I said?"

"Yup, all of the important things are in scrolls in my pack", Naruto replied.

"You sure?",

"Yes, sempai", Naruto replied, a little annoyed.

"Don't get snippy with me, gaki", she said, her tone daring Naruto to disobey.

"G-gomen, sempai", Naruto replied quickly as not to anger Anko.

With a smirk they returned to silence, for about 5 seconds until Naruto couldn't hold his questions about missions anymore.

XXX

"Hey Naruto, we'll camp out here for tonight", Anko said as she watched the sun set.

"Sure thing Anko", Naruto replied.

"Give me your tent scroll, I'll set it up while you get us water and firewood, alright?", Anko asked.

Naruto nodded, and he tossed her the scroll.

When Naruto was out of sight, Anko felt his chakra signature split, knowing instantly that he summoned clones, she just smiled and said,

"Cheater",

Expecting Naruto to be coming out of the thicket since he had made clones to work on his chores, she went back to her work.

After un-sealing the tents and putting them up, even collecting stones for the fire pit, she was surprised that Naruto hadn't returned yet, feeling a bit worried, she tried to find his chakra signature.

'Seeing' that he was close by she flickered to the tree branch behind him.

She watched him for a few minutes analyzing how different he was a few hours ago, now he was quiet and content. Anko almost jumped when Naruto called her.

"Anko-sempai, you can watch the sunset with me if you wanted to, you know", Naruto quietly stated before returning to his sunset.

Complying, Anko leapt and sat beside Naruto and they both watched the sunset in silence.

Anko just smiled at the mature Naruto beside her, she wanted to know why he was like this, before she could ask however, he said,

"Sunsets are one of the smallest luxuries of mankind, it's sad to think that most people take it for granted, I won't be like them though,", he paused and took a deep breath, "I can't even if I tried, this is something too special to me to take for granted", he paused again and looked into Anko's eyes, "It's one of the last beautiful things those haters can't take away from me", he just smiled, turning back to the barely-there setting sun, he finished with, "Although I haven't shared any of these with anyone else, so thanks Anko-sempai". Naruto then stood up and reached his hand to Anko, offering to help her up.

Anko stared at the blonde in front of him, not really believing what she experienced, but smiled, since she liked it, accepting Naruto's hand she stood and walked beside him back to their camp, where the clones had been cooking dinner for them.

XXX

Anko kept watch that night, even after Naruto argued that his clones could do the workso that she could rest, but Anko turned him down saying it wouldn't hinder her be a better ninja than him anyway, he pouted at that, secretly she liked that pout, it made his face look innocent.

Naruto was awake inside his tent, he thought about the month that Anko and him covered, he was now strong, perhaps as strong as a rookie chunnin but, needed to be stronger so that he can help Anko more. In the month that they covered, Naruto grew to trust Anko, more than he trusted Iruka-sensei and Sasuke even, he wondered what that meant, as he fell asleep.

XXX

They reached Misutī-machi(Misty Town), after five days of travel, without much trouble, if you don't count Anko tying Naruto up with her snakes, on the third day for complaining (very loudly) about not having ramen for three days.

Misutī-machi, is a large town, having abundant streams, rice fields, and forests around them another factor was that the next village inside Kiri territory was a port town, the road out of there leads directly to them, merchants stop by their village to trade for land of fire goods before going to other countries or returning to Kiri or the Land of Seas.

They walked to guards, so that they could inform their village head's of the arrival of the hired nins, and that they needed a meeting with him.

They waited by the gates for a while.

"Sempai, these guards, they can use chakra too?", Naruto asked.

"Yes, around the Land of Fire, large villages or business towns like these usually have ninja's guarding them, their level ranging from gennin to low chunnin, never higher, since higher nin are much more expensive in upkeep", Anko explained.

"Then, why are we here?, I mean f they already have ninjas why would they need us?".

"Well it usually means, the village can't send them out against the bandits for a number of reasons, ranging from the enemy is stronger, they can't afford to lighten the village's security or that they are outnumbered.", the Toku-jo said.

"Oh, so we can really kick-ass here right?", Naruto asked pumping his fists.

"We'll find that out later, the mission is a C-rank so I don't think we'll meet any ninja here, but even so, you need to be on your guard alright?", she said.

"Hai!", Naruto saluted, and brought out a jutsu scroll that he was studying before they left Konoha.

After a few minutes, the guard returned,

"Shinjio-sama, would like to see you now", and motioned for the pair to follow him.

The guard left them directly in front of the chief's door. They knocked and entered, Anko bowed to show respect while Naruto copied her.

"You don't need to do that ,child", Shinjio, said with a grandfatherly tone, not unlike the Sandaime's when he talked with his ninja. He told them to sit and asked if they wanted anything, shaking their heads, they went on to business.

"Now, you must be wondering why we requested you here, no?", he asked.

"Yes, we would, Shinjio-sama", said Anko.

"Well, here's the problem, two weeks ago, bandit attacks have been more frequent, though, none were reported to be killed, they have been stealing a great deal of our produce and trade, more specifically spices from The Land of Seas, and special sake, from Kirigakure, usually we would let our own hired nins do their job, but since we do not know how many bandits there are, I am reluctant to send them out since, I fear that they might be able to overcome us outside these walls, and also, we have not seen the entirety of their force, I feel that they have more things in store for us", Shinjio said.

"So, what would you have us do, Shinjio-sama?", Anko asked.

"Well, my men have tracked the bandits, to a small encampment in the forest, I feel that there are more though, since when they had a count of the bandits in that camp, there were less than the reported attackers, I would like you to assist some of my more talented ninja in eradicating the bandits, and sniff out any remaining stragglers",

"When can we meet them, sir?", Anko asked, Naruto kept himself from talking, since, it was rude to speak before your superior, and the last thing he wanted was to seem disrespectful, and he didn't want to embarrass Anko.

"Tomorrow perhaps, I sent them to our eastern post and they will be relieved and free then, in the mean time, please enjoy the sights around the village, and do not worry about accommodations, I have taken the liberty of reserving two rooms in our best Hot springs resort, I will personally pay for it", the old man smiled.

"Arigato Shinjio-sama, but you did not need to pay for them, I could have easily done that", being single and working B-ranks and A-ranks since she got promoted to Chunnin, she was easily wealthy enough.

"No, I insist, you are guests here in Misutī-machi, albeit we did pay you, do not worry about trifle things such as money, this village and I have more than enough", He said and dismissed the two ninja.

XXX

Anko went to check out their rooms while she told Naruto to check inventory on their ninja tools.

Seeing that they did not seem to need anything new, Naruto walked around town, as one of the lessons he learned from Anko was that you should always have a basic knowledge of your surroundings.

He couldn't continue much however as he found a ramen stand, few blocks away from the Hot springs.

Before Kyu-bi could stop Naruto he had already ordered three bowls, of miso ramen and beef slices.

Devouring them at an unfathomable speed.

After Naruto's third bowl though, he found that he could not eat any more so he paid the waiter, and stopped by a Dango stand and got Anko three orders of the sweet stuff.

XXX

After asking for the keys and directions from the receptionist, he went to the rooms.

"Sensei?", Naruto called as he knocked at Anko's door.

Not hearing an answer, he used shunshin(Body Flicker..I think) and appeared inside the room, finding a table he prepared the dango on a table, shut the windows so that no flies would hover around the treat and proceeded to the hot springs.

While walking he was reading a small book about chakra control, hoping to improve to a respectable level. He was too busy reading the book in hand to notice the door he was opening, soon enough as he opened the door a dangerous voice greeted him,

"Well gaki, what do you think you're doing here?",

"A-Anko?",

Naruto's eyes went wide as he saw his towel-only clad sensei, fearing for his life Naruto shouted,

"GOMEN SENSEI!", and ran out of the room and rushed to the correct male part of the Hot spring.

XXX

Knowing that his previous actions were unacceptable, in truth, Kyu-bi watched the exchange and scolded Naruto about it many times over. Now he was knocking on his sensei's door, with a box of Dango as peace offering.

"Come in", Anko called, she was currently hunched over maps and details of their mission, although a small part of her was still irked at what happened a couple of hours ago, even if she did know that Naruto didn't mean to barge in on her like that, the kid was too innocent to do that.

Anko's train of thought broke as Naruto started saying something,

"Umm...sensei, about uh...that umm...thing two hours ago, I'm really sorry about it, about barging in on you I mean, I was just distracted by this book I was reading and I didn't notice that I was in the women's part of the onsen, I swear, please forgive me", with that he bowed and presented the dango he brought with him.

All seriousness was forgotten though as he heard Anko chuckle at him,

"Don't worry about it, gaki, I'm not that mad and it's alright, now c'mon, stop apologizing and sit with me, I won't be able to finish all this dango you've been bringing me all by myself", patting the couch beside her and smiling at Naruto they made peace.

As Naruto sat down he said, "I'm really sorry sensei",

"Quit apologizing Kohai, or I'll think that you didn't like what saw", Anko replied with a teasing smirk.

"What I-I, No, I mean, yes I mean, AAAck!", Naruto just did the right thing and shut up as he turned a very deep shade of red, with Anko laughing at him.

Though appreciating his formal apology, that didn't stop Anko's playful attitude and teased Naruto up into the night.

As they finished with their planning, Naruto stood up and stretched and made his way to exit the room intending to rest after the long day. Before he could leave or before Anko could stop herself though she said,

"You don't need to go Naruto-kun", she teased and finished with a suggestive wink.

Naruto just turned another bright shade of red and quickly exited the room, intent on taking a cold bath before going to sleep. As he closed the door Anko was still chuckling.

Anko didn't really understand her playful mood today, or the fact that she just made a pass at her 13 ½ year old apprentice/Partner. Dismissing it as an after effect of the sweet dango she'd been eating non-stop she went to bed.

XXX

Naruto awoke at 5:30 and accomplished his morning traditions before getting some warm up exercises done. Donning his usual attire he went to see if Anko was awake and if she wanted to eat breakfast with him.

Before he could knock though, the door opened revealing an already dressed Anko,

"Hey Naruto, I was just about to wake you, c'mon let's have breakfast before we get some light training, alright?",

"Sure thing sensei, and umm...Good morning to you", Naruto stammered remembering her teasing last night.

"Good morning to you too", she just smiled and led the way to the food stand outside.

XXX

**Chapter Break-**

**So whatcha guys think? **

**In this chapter we see how Naruto is maturing slightly, and they are both learning to really understand each other and memorize some of each others' quircks...**

**Sorry if this was a little late...school is coming up and I had to enrol and everything...**

**Anyway tell me what you think..and if you have ideas please feel free to share them, who knows I might end up using them...and if you have any questions feel free to ask...**

**Next chapter will have a lot of sneaking around so stay tuned...**

**Ja'ne**


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